Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Karina announces Zombie Idol singing contest

Before we get to the "meat" of the interview with Karina Fabian and her Three-Meal Crock Pot Roast recipe, I'd like to ask, “Are You the Next Zombie Idol?”

Karina and Damnation Books are looking for someone
to sing the theme song she wrote for her book, I LEFT MY BRAINS IN SAN FRANCISCO. She has the words and the tune, but needs a
singer. They're offering prizes for the
best singer, the most creative audition video, and are giving one in ten
entries a copy of the e-book. The
details are at http://fabianspace.blogspot.com/p/are-you-next-zombie-idol.html

Now, a little about Karina, a friend I met on Broad Universe: Winner of the 2010 INDIE for best Fantasy (Magic, Mensa and Mayhem) and a Global eBook Award for Best Horror (Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator),
Karina Fabian’s writing takes quirky twists that keep her--and her
fans--amused. Nuns working in space, a down-and-out Faerie dragon working off a
geas from St. George, zombie exterminators—there’s always a surprise in
Fabian’s worlds. Karina teaches writing and book marketing seminars
online.

If you were marooned on an island, and Pots & Pens
granted your wish for only one book and one food, what would you choose?A survival guide and zucchini, because I
could plant the seeds and they are near impossible to kill. I’d get thoroughly sick of zucchini, but at
least I would not starve.

It’s stretching your boundaries time. Is
there a food you’d love to learn how to cook or a different genre or type of
book you’d love to try to write? I
want to take some gourmet cooking classes at some point in my life, maybe when
the kids are grown. I’d like to learn
French and Italian. And sushi! How awesome it would be to learn to make
sushi.

Please share one cheesy “writing is like
cooking” thought.The
best stories are like my best cooking creations: I take a little of this from
here, some of that from there, toss them together, put them under heat, and
voila! But just like my stories, my best
meals are never the same twice!

Hot out of the oven: What inspired your
latest book, and what ingredients do you hope make it a tasty treat for
readers? I
Left My Brains in San Francisco is the second in the Zombie Exterminator
Series. Neeta (the heroine from Neeta
Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator) and her partner and boyfriend, Ted, head to San
Francisco for a zombie exterminator’s convention. She’s hoping to relax, meet up with friends,
and maybe further her romance with Ted.
However, the zombies have a different idea. When they rise from their watery graves to
invade the Bay Area, she and her friends will have their hands full!

This
book is two parts situational humor, one part political/social satire, one part
action, and one part romance—sprinkled liberally with zombies.

Leftovers can be great, especially when
the same ingredients are retasked into another magical meal. Name a book that
you wish had a sequel (or another sequel) and what kind of story you think that
literary remix would tell. Of
my books, the ones I wish had sequels, do. I write a lot of second novels, often at the behest of my publishers or
readers, but also because I love the characters; and once they set up shop in
my head, they refuse to leave.

Of
other authors, I dearly wish Madeleine L’Engle had written a book about Charles
Wallace as an adult. The last mention of
him was in one of her Poly O’Keefe novels where “Uncle Charles was on a secret
mission somewhere. We don’t know
where.” It still drives me nuts! I actually have dreamed up a story about
Charles Wallace as an adult having to save multiple universes from a mistake he
did in an alternate universe. Sadly,
I’ll never get to write it with him, but someday, I plan to change the
protagonist and tech the “withining,” and write it myself.

Recipe Row: What favorite recipe do you
have for us today?

Three-Meal Crock Pot Roast

I am a lazy cook by nature, but my family always loves the
3-meal roast, and it takes care of three dinners, unless my crew is really
hungry one day and eats more of the meat than expected. I don’t have an exact recipe for this, so
experiment and have fun.

The night before you want to have it, place one large roast
in the crock pot—the bigger, the better.
Add at least one can of beef broth, plus enough water to cover it. Add spices and condiments to taste. I usually toss in pepper, garlic powder and
onion salt, then pour in a little white wine, barb-be-que or steak sauce, and
soy sauce.

Cook on low overnight

In the early afternoon, if you like carrots, onions or
potatoes with your roast, add more water and cut the veggies and add them. I usually give them 2-4 hours to cook.

Your first meal will be ready—fall-apart roast and
veggies. If you have a big enough roast,
you’ll have left-over meat.

Second meal: Cut up
the leftover meat, and save half of it for a beef pot pie or shepherd’s
pie—there are plenty of recipes online—or reheat it in taco flavoring, or shred
it for sandwiches.

Third meal: Put the rest back into the broth in the crock
pot. Add cut-up veggies, frozen veggies,
canned tomatoes…whatever you like in soup.
Add more water if needed, along with more spices. My mom used to toss in a can of Alphabet
Soup. Put the crock-pot in the fridge
until soup day, then put it back out and cook on low for a couple of hours. (The extra time gives the flavors a chance to
combine.) Serve with rolls.

I LEFT MY BRAINS IN SAN FRANCISO: Zombie problem? Call Neeta Lyffe, Zombie
Exterminator--but not this weekend.

On vacation at an exterminator’s convention, she's
looking to relax, have fun, and enjoy a little romance. Too bad the zombies
have a different idea. When they rise from their watery graves to take over the
City by the Bay, it looks like it'll be a working vacation after all.